{"id":5154,"date":"2015-12-09T14:59:18","date_gmt":"2015-12-09T20:59:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/?p=5154"},"modified":"2015-12-09T15:44:38","modified_gmt":"2015-12-09T21:44:38","slug":"5154","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2015\/12\/09\/5154\/","title":{"rendered":"Wednesday Torch Today &#8211; Livecast All-Star Panel, Rock&#8217;s new movie project, Ross &#038; Kevin Sullivan, HBK visits Santa, ECIII talks TNA emphasiszing &#8220;homegrown stars,&#8221; TNA Title quarterfinals &#038; final NXT Takeover hype tonight, new &#8220;Unfiltered&#8221; w\/Sasha Banks, Sami Zayn&#8217;s in-ring return, Backlund Video Interview"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"pwtor-3481369297\" class=\"pwtor-before-content pwtor-entity-placement\"><hr \/><b>SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)... <\/b>\r\n\r\n<iframe src=\"https:\/\/widget.spreaker.com\/player?show_id=3076978&theme=light&playlist=false&playlist-continuous=false&autoplay=false&live-autoplay=false&chapters-image=true&episode_image_position=right&hide-logo=false&hide-likes=false&hide-comments=false&hide-sharing=false&hide-download=true\" width=\"100%\" height=\"140px\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe>\r\n<hr \/><\/div><p><strong>TORCH TODAY &#8211; Wednesday, December 9<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>AFTERNOON\u00a0UPDATE<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&#8211; LIVECAST ALERT: Pat McNeill has an All-Star Panel on today&#8217;s PWTorch Livecast at 5:00 p.m. EST. Find out the details at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.blogtalkradio.com\/pro-wrestling-torch\/2015\/12\/09\/pwtorch-livecast--all-star-panel-wpat-mcneill\" target=\"_blank\">PWTorchLivecast.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; <strong>Jim Ross<\/strong>, who guests on Thursday&#8217;s PWTorch Livecast, has a new podcast interview with <strong>Kevin Sullivan<\/strong> at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.podcastone.com\/The-Ross-Report\" target=\"_blank\">PodcastOne.com<\/a>. Sullivan discusses the Chris\u00a0Benoit tragedy, booking WCW, how he&#8217;d book Brock Lesnar, what the wrestling business needs in order to grow, and more topics.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; <strong>&#8220;The Rock&#8221; Dwayne Johnson<\/strong> is attached to a new action movie through New Line Cinema. The untitled movie project is being fast-tracked to production, reports <a href=\"http:\/\/deadline.com\/2015\/12\/dwayne-johnson-action-comedy-new-line-will-gluck-lethal-weapon-1201662502\/\" target=\"_blank\">Deadline.com<\/a>. Rock commented on the movie news via Twitter.<\/p>\n<p>https:\/\/twitter.com\/TheRock\/status\/674654156439822337<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; Recent TNA Hvt. champion <strong>Ethan Carter III<\/strong> talked to the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.huffingtonpost.com\/pollo-del-mar\/pro-wrestlings-ethan-cart_b_8752714.html\" target=\"_blank\">Huffington Post<\/a> about TNA trying to find a new identity moving to Pop TV in January.\u00a0&#8220;When TNA has gone through changes in the past, we brought in big names to hopefully spike business, but that didn&#8217;t really work out,&#8221; ECIII said before stressing TNA&#8217;s emphasis on homegrown talent.<\/p>\n<p>The emphasis is also due to TNA&#8217;s current budget not allowing them to bring in as many big names as in the past, prompting the decision to focus on lesser-known stars. \u00a0&#8220;The move is going to be a great forum to show the world these talents we&#8217;ve developed.\u00a0Plus we offer core fan favorites and the legacy of Kurt Angle, Jeff and Matt Hardy, who are there to build the name recognition of the product. I think we&#8217;re in a great position to make a big impact,&#8221; ECIII said.<\/p><div id=\"pwtor-1728585300\" class=\"pwtor-content pwtor-entity-placement\"><div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280 __336x280\" id=\"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p>&#8211; While on a hunting trip in Ohio for his TV show, <strong>Shawn Michaels<\/strong> wanted to see Santa Claus. So, Michaels and his co-host Keith Mark surprised a local church by\u00a0stopping in to see Santa, took photos, and made a donation to the youth group.<\/p>\n<div class=\"subscriber-only\">\n<p class=\"\">\u201cKeith and I are kind of old-fashioned and traditional. We just happened to hear about it, went down to the church, made a donation, did some crafts with kids and made a night of it. It was a lot of fun. I guess I\u2019m just guilty of being a big kid,&#8221; Michaels told the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.athensmessenger.com\/news\/wwe-star-films-hunting-show-locally-visits-santa\/article_a531b866-a5df-51f6-8ee8-10bafca59435.html\" target=\"_blank\">local Messenger newspaper<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><strong>MORNING UPDATE<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&#8211; TV WRESTLING: WWE NXT has the final hype for the next Takeover special. The main event is NXT champion <strong>Finn Balor <\/strong>&amp;<strong> Apollo Crews<\/strong> vs. <strong>Samoa Joe <\/strong>&amp;<strong> Baron Corbin<\/strong>. &#8230; TNA Impact has the quarterfinals of the TNA Title tournament with <strong>Ethan Carter III<\/strong> vs. <strong>Davey Richards<\/strong>, <strong>Bobby Lashley<\/strong> vs. <strong>Shera<\/strong>, <strong>Matt Hardy<\/strong> vs. <strong>Jessie Godderz<\/strong>, and <strong>Eric Young<\/strong> vs. <strong>Tigre Uno<\/strong>. &#8230; ROH TV on Comet TV has a big tag main event of <strong>The Briscoes<\/strong> vs. <strong>Young Bucks<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; WWE NETWORK HIGHLIGHTS: A new episode of &#8220;Unfiltered&#8221; with <strong>Renee Young<\/strong> is out at 4:30 p.m. EST. This week, Renee interviews <strong>Sasha Banks<\/strong>. This week&#8217;s NXT episode then airs at 8:00 p.m. EST.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; NXT star <strong>Sami Zayn<\/strong> is <a href=\"http:\/\/talksport.com\/wwe\/wwe-nxt-sami-zayn-return-injury-confirmed-finn-balor-title-challenge-newcastle-151209177190\" target=\"_blank\">scheduled to make his in-ring return<\/a> from injury at Thursday&#8217;s NXT show in Newcastle when the U.K. tour kicks off. Zayn is scheduled to face NXT champion <strong>Finn Balor<\/strong> on the show.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; <strong>Bob Backlund<\/strong> was interviewed on-camera by satellite radio host Sam Roberts promoting his <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/gp\/product\/1613216955\/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;creativeASIN=1613216955&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=pw075-20&amp;linkId=IDIYZ7QKP6YSEKOS\" target=\"_blank\">new &#8220;Backlund&#8221; book<\/a>. It&#8217;s a 40-minute interview covering Backlund&#8217;s life and wrestling career.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Bob Backlund - Hard Work, Vince McMahon, Being Champion, etc\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/4k2VqbqvzJI?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<div class=\"pwtor-end-article-groups pwtor-entity-placement\" id=\"pwtor-381076868\"><div id=\"pwtor-3942241420\"><div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280\" id=\"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\nTHANK YOU FOR VISITING<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>TORCH TODAY &#8211; Wednesday, December 9 AFTERNOON\u00a0UPDATE &#8211; LIVECAST ALERT: Pat McNeill has an All-Star Panel on today&#8217;s PWTorch Livecast at 5:00 p.m. EST. Find out the details at PWTorchLivecast.com. &#8211; Jim Ross, who guests <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2015\/12\/09\/5154\/\" title=\"Wednesday Torch Today &#8211; Livecast All-Star Panel, Rock&#8217;s new movie project, Ross &#038; Kevin Sullivan, HBK visits Santa, ECIII talks TNA emphasiszing &#8220;homegrown stars,&#8221; TNA Title quarterfinals &#038; final NXT Takeover hype tonight, new &#8220;Unfiltered&#8221; w\/Sasha Banks, Sami Zayn&#8217;s in-ring return, Backlund Video Interview\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1391,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[45],"tags":[138,126,203,124,137,504,245,213,204,251,123],"class_list":["post-5154","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-quicknews","tag-bob-backlund","tag-finn-balor","tag-impact-wrestling","tag-nxt","tag-pwtorch-livecast","tag-renee-young","tag-sami-zayn","tag-sasha-banks","tag-tna-impact","tag-wwe-network","tag-wwe-nxt"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/BacklundBookCover3x2_600.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5154","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5154"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5154\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5193,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5154\/revisions\/5193"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1391"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5154"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5154"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5154"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}